California Cannabis Bank Is Too Risky

Since marijuana businesses cannot use traditional banking institutions, because the drug is banned at the federal level, state leaders have been investigating the feasibility of opening a public cannabis bank.

However, yesterday afternoon, the Cannabis Banking Working Group, chaired by State Treasurer John Chiang, learned that the idea would pose too great of a legal and financial risk for the state. That was the finding of an independent study funded by the group.

Chiang says, “While today’s announcement may not lay out the path some of us had hoped, it did reinforce the inconvenient reality that a definitive solution will remain elusive until the federal government takes action. They must either remove cannabis from its official list of banned narcotics or approve safe harbor legislation that protects banks serving cannabis businesses from prosecution.”

Since they are not able to utilize traditional banking, cannabis businesses deal with large amounts of cash, making them more susceptible to robberies and violent crimes.